Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat as a Republican, slammed primary opponent Kathy Barnette on Saturday for her history of posting Islamophobic tweets, Fox News reports.
If elected, Oz would be the first Muslim senator in United States history.
"We must stop interacting with them as if they r rational human beings. There is nothing rational about Islam," Barnette tweeted in 2015. She also shared an article with the headline "Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Oz, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, said in an interview Saturday that he considers Barnette's "Islamophobic" remarks to be "disqualifying."
"This state was based on religious freedom. I'm proud as a Pennsylvanian to uphold those founding beliefs that every faith has its merits," Oz said.
According to The New York Post, "Barnette has been outspent 358-to-1 on TV ads by her well-funded rivals," Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who have leveled scathing attacks at each other while leaving Barnette relatively unscathed.
In the past two weeks, Barnette — a military veteran and political commentator who has never held public office — has surged in the polls and is running neck-and-neck with Oz and McCormick ahead of Tuesday's primary.
-
Crossword: November 19, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
God is now just one text away because of AIUnder the radar People can talk to a higher power through AI chatbots
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
